Hans Ulrich Obrist

life-in-progress

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Kate-Atkinson

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

with Hans Ulrich Obrist

Ai Weiwei Speaks

140 Artists' Ideas for Planet Earth

Lives of the Artists, Lives of the Architects

Ways of Curating

A Guide to the Extreme Present

The Age of Earthquakes

Life in Progress

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Life In Progress invites us to discover the person behind the polymath … Art is the gateway to possibility, Obrist believes, and his aim, it would seem, is to chivvy the rest of us through it

In his memoir, Obrist reveals a poignant motive for all his busyness. When he was six-years old, he was hit by a car on his way to school. He spent weeks hovering between life and death in hospital. “I just remember that the feeling of urgency started there, that there is no time to lose, every day could be your last"

His words come out in an almost comical torrent, citations bobbing up and ideas colliding... ArtReview named him the most powerful figure in the field, but Obrist seems less to stand atop the art world than to race around, up, over, and through it

Hans Ulrich Obrist manages to underline the value of art, to single it out from other human endeavours as something of paramount importance; to this, he brings an instinctive and profound love, a generosity of spirit (and heart) that he extends also to other fields of human expression

He is a passionate communicator. In result, half the world is starting to live in the future now

When Hans Ulrich was a young boy, he was knocked down by a speeding car. Hospitalized for weeks, he discovered the healing powers of art. Once he was able to travel again, he began to set out alone, on night trains, to meet artists in their studios across Europe. 
 From these early youthful encounters with the art world to his first exhibition in his Zurich kitchen, and even penning 250 postcards while trapped by an avalanche in Val Bregaglia, Obrist takes us through the formative experiences that made him.Part unputdownable coming-of-age story, part tour de force of the contemporary art world, part user’s manual on how to live driven by curiosity, conversation, and not least hope, Life in Progress is an enchanting ode to what engaging with art and the people around us boundlessly affords.

World-renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist for the first time grants a private view of his life, and his journey towards art and artists 
 
When Hans Ulrich was six years old, he was knocked down by a speeding car as he was crossing the street. Hospitalized for weeks, a sense of urgency was instilled in him. Enraptured by the healing powers of art from this young age, he began to travel across Europe on night trains, visiting artists’ studios. 
 
In a book that is part unputdownable coming-of-age story, part tour de force of the contemporary art world, part user’s manual on how to live a life driven by curiosity, conversation, and not least hope, Obrist takes us through the formative experiences that made him. From his first exhibition in his Zurich kitchen to penning 250 postcards while trapped by an avalanche in Val Bregaglia, Life in Progress is an enchanting ode to the healing properties that engaging with art and the people around us boundlessly affords.

When Hans Ulrich was six years old, he was knocked down by a speeding car as he was crossing the street. Hospitalized for weeks, a sense of urgency was instilled in him. Enraptured by the healing powers of art from this young age, he began to travel across Europe on night trains, visiting artists’ studios. 
 
 
In a book that is part unputdownable coming-of-age story, part tour de force of the contemporary art world, part user’s manual on how to live a life driven by curiosity, conversation, and not least hope, Obrist takes us through the formative experiences that made him. From his first exhibition in his Zurich kitchen to penning 250 postcards while trapped by an avalanche in Val Bregaglia, Life in Progress is an enchanting ode to the healing properties that engaging with art and the people around us boundlessly affords.

Hans Ulrich Obrist is Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries in London. Prior to this, he was a curator at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Since his first show World Soup (The Kitchen Show) in 1991, he has curated more than 300 shows. 
 
Obrist's recent publications include Ways of Curating (2015), The Age of Earthquakes (2015), Lives of the Artists, Lives of Architects (2015), Mondialité (2017), Somewhere Totally Else (2018) and The Athens Dialogues (2018).

Life in Progress

Format:

Buy the book from:

Life In Progress invites us to discover the person behind the polymath … Art is the gateway to possibility, Obrist believes, and his aim, it would seem, is to chivvy the rest of us through it

His words come out in an almost comical torrent, citations bobbing up and ideas colliding... ArtReview named him the most powerful figure in the field, but Obrist seems less to stand atop the art world than to race around, up, over, and through it

Hans Ulrich Obrist manages to underline the value of art, to single it out from other human endeavours as something of paramount importance; to this, he brings an instinctive and profound love, a generosity of spirit (and heart) that he extends also to other fields of human expression

He is a passionate communicator. In result, half the world is starting to live in the future now

About Hans Ulrich Obrist

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter